Infatuation
by importantly
Summary: Xiaoyu wonders if this is why she’s infatuated with him, because he’s dark and mysterious and so passionate about his fighting.


Ling Xiaoyu has just defeated Nina Williams. Huffing and puffing as she peers at Nina's broken body, she whispers an apology because she cannot just leave someone hurt and wrecked like that. Sometimes people scold her for that, because she's nice, which makes her wonder if that's why Jin Kazama ignores her. She's sure they're friends because one time she waved to him and he nodded back (though, she won't admit he had a grimace on his face). She knows Jin thinks being sincere and generous will never get you anywhere, that it will make you vulnerable to a T, but she can't help it, just like he can't help his hatred for Hwoarang.

She's not sure why Jin and Hwoarang hate each other. They both seem like great guys, although she's never had a full decent conversation with either of them. One day she asked Miharu if she knew why they hate each other. It had something to do with a street fight where they had an embarrassing draw. Xiaoyu isn't really sure how that's bad. To her, that's better than losing. Maybe this is some macho guy thing she's not aware of.

But Xiaoyu has to say maybe that _she_ like Hwoarang, as a friend, though. She doesn't like him like that. She won't admit that she has a crush on Jin. It's more like infatuation, but she knows it will never happen. Jin has too much pride, and he wants ever, so much to win the King of Iron Fist Tournament. His reasons, she's not filled in on, but she's so much aware of his dark and mysterious past. Xiaoyu wonders if this is why she's infatuated with him, because he's dark and mysterious and _so_ passionate about his fighting.

Maybe he's _too_ passionate. _Too_ much in fact, because when she offered to train with him one day, he scoffed at her, saying she was too fragile and that he needed someone stronger. She _knows_ she isn't strong, but strong isn't everything. You need to utilize your speed and stance plays. That's how she won the fourth tournament. But Jin doesn't listen. He wants strength, not speed, not stance plays, not even a friend. That's why Xiaoyu shouted over and over again to Hwoarang, pissing him off, until he agreed to fight Jin. But that wasn't the fight he promised to avenge his pride, he made that clear.

That's why, at the end of her fight with Nina, she's making her way over to the arena where Jin and Hwoarang are fighting. As she nears the corner of the parking building of Mishima Zaibatsu, she notices it's unbelievably quiet except for pants and wheezes. _Is the fight over?_ Xiaoyu wonders. She whips her head around a cement pole, grinning as she bounces on her toes, wondering who won. But all she can see is Hwoarang with his back leaning against a red car, dented and blood-stained, with Jin leaning over him with a smirk on his face, his raven hair dangling on Hwoarang's sweaty, panting face.

_What the hell has happened?_ But Xiaoyu doesn't say that. She would never use the word hell.

With a squeak, Xiaoyu is heard and just like that Jin's snarl falters. With one glace at Xiaoyu, Jin pounds an Electric Wind Hook Fist at Hwoarang's ribs, causing the man to slide down in agony, clutching his side as Jin takes two steps back, examining the hurt he's caused. He takes a look at Xiaoyu, who is running toward Hwoarang, trying to stop the bleeding on his face.

"Go away, Xiaoyu. You did nothing," Jin mutters as he puts up the hood of his blue sweatshirt. Hwoarang must've knocked it down. Maybe that's why Jin was peering over Hwoarang. No one should _ever_ knock down Jin's hood. That's like calling Devil Jin.

"Will you help him?" Xiaoyu asks, accusingly. She pats down Hwoarang's head wound, a scrape which has blood drizzling down, with the sleeve of her shirt while Hwoarang mumbles are pushing her away, but Xiaoyu doesn't. She caused this fight, so she will be the one to nurse it. It's practically given.

"No way in hell." Jin innocently kicks Hwoarang's leg, causing him to shudder in pain. Hwoarang mumbles a string of Korean curses Jin's way as Xiaoyu examines the scar on his arm. How could Jin be so careless about his opponents? How can _anyone_ be careless? A fight isn't about murdering someone. A fight is about coming out alive.

Even so, closing the door of Hwoarang's hotel room after she's patched him up, Xiaoyu's anger is still boiling. As she passes Lei Wulong, a Chinese police officer, Asuka Kazama, who is rumored to be Jin's cousin, and Paul Phoenix, an American biker, she contemplates whether or not Jin's passion lies in fighting, defeating, or her. (It probably isn't the last one, she knows.)


End file.
